July 28, 2011

Morgan Freeman's representative confirmed to The Huffington Post that the narrator of the ad is not Freeman: "While the ad in Wisconsin attempts to sound like Morgan Freeman, it clearly is an attempt to deceive. Morgan Freeman did not narrate that ad."

This is a deliberate Morgan Freeman imitation:

And here's the real Morgan Freeman, talking like Morgan Freeman:

Is the recall ad deceptive?

No. It doesn't sound that much like Freeman.

Yes. It sounds like Freeman and it was deliberate.

No. It sounds a little like Freeman, but I don't think it was intentional.

Yes. Even if they weren't trying to sound like Freeman, it will fool some people and that's wrong.

And by "deliberate" I mean: Hey, Sal, what we want for this bit is something that sounds friendly, down-home, you know what I mean? Not the typical ad announcer but something less formal. Maybe a bit like Morgan Freeman. You know how he talks? Someone you trust is talking to you. Like that.

And Sal says: I can do Morgan Freeman, more or less.

The idea that this is *deceptive* as if the purpose is to imply the endorsement by Freeman in a local Wisconsin race is ridiculous.

If it's not meant to sound like Morgan Freeman, why use someone who sounds like a southerner? Normally you would want the accent of the people you are talking to so that they more easily identify with the speaker.

GM, I am actually in the Twin Cities right now (completing some education). And the ads are being bombarded on Twin Cities media. And starting today, crazy Shelly Moore is playing socialist ads on local AM sports radio. A station whose listenership is probably primarily Republican leaning males in Minnesota. A sign that she has wayyyyy to much money to spend.

And I think I have an idea why her short marriage failed. Imagine being married to Ms. "WE BREATHE UNION".

"If it's not meant to sound like Morgan Freeman, why use someone who sounds like a southerner? Normally you would want the accent of the people you are talking to so that they more easily identify with the speaker."

Yah, sure, you betcha. Problem is that the people the ad is talking to sound like Sarah Palin.

And while Sarah Palin sounds like home to me, Morgan Freeman sounds comfortable and warm and fatherly.

And frankly, he doesn't *particularly* sound Black, which I associate with something more urban (and yes, it does seem that even someone without an "accent" is distinguishable as a black person by their voice, even if I can't say why.) His "Southern" is soft enough that it doesn't trigger the rather heavy accent based prejudice mid-westerners have toward the South.

And frankly, he doesn't *particularly* sound Black, which I associate with something more urban (and yes, it does seem that even someone without an "accent" is distinguishable as a black person by their voice, even if I can't say why.)

I agree in many cases. There's a lawyer that is often on FNC who sounds like he's from around NYC or Jersey (I'm from the Chicago area and can't tell the difference between Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, or Jersey - sorry) and there was a lady, on a pain med commerical I think, named Deneen who had a similar accent. If your eyes were closed you wouldn't have a clue.

I've also known many people of African descent who sound just like Americans - not any particular flavor of American...

Why is this a controversy? Who the heck cares? Morgan Freeman is an actor. If your state elections can be swayed by the endorsement of an actor -- whether a true endorsement or not -- then it's time to take away the voting rights of the entire state of Wisconsin. That's the behavior of a state full of children and imbeciles.

It's a man with a nice voice and pleasant, calm and laid-back accent and a polite way of speaking. I think it's kind of ridiculous to think that Morgan Freeman is the only man in the universe with those vocal qualities.

If you listen to the actual Morgan Freeman in the third video, the Moore ad narrator does not sound like him at all. Neither does the impersonator, although he does a good job of catching some of Freeman's quirks, which is how impersonators work.

Well, the ears perk up in the presence of a familiar voice. I think that is why there are the voices of so many uncredited actors in ads. But this can backfire. If this is not really Morgan Freeman, what else about the ad is false.

William, your cost confuses me. You say the ad is false because the person is not Morgan Freeman. Did the Harsdorf people say it was Morgan Freeman? And let's get back to the real scandel. Do you know a balloon was popped in the capital?

I like Morgan Freeman, the actor. He's marvelous in the parts I've seen him play. He's certainly not a historian or a student of our nation's history.

"Live Free or Die" is the motto of New Hampshire.

Massachusetts motto is "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty." altogether a rather boring motto, much like the Kennedy's and its senior senator J. Fudging Kerry, that person of disputed French ancestry.

However, I agree with his views on the slavish mentality of some people.

But what's gained by getting people in a State Senate district in Wisconsin to think that Morgan Freeman is narrating an ad?

Especially when a plausible answer, to someone not otherwise clued in, is that Freeman was paid to do it.

I wish I'd thought of this point. There's possible signalling value to getting people to think you could afford to hire Morgan Freeman to record your ad in Podunk. It suggests that you're a serious candidate.

@Freeman Hunt. Perhaps, but I think the primary reason would be "appeal to authority"--a point ST makes upthread. And it's just not in this instance. Notice how many tv commercials have the "reasonable" or "wise" neighbor, bank loan officer, etc., played by a black actor and the bumbling idiot, the guy incapable of planning his own financial future is a white guy (e.g.,in one instance that comes to mind the white guy is clipping his hedge and admitting he's taking potluck on his retirement planning while his black neighbor counsels him on financial planning and long-range thinking; i.e., the ant/grasshopper thing.) This trend is so endemic to the advertising world that it's become a standing joke..almost impossible to NOT notice anymore, it's everywhere in print, signage (poster ads, etc) TV, and of course, as ST alludes, above, the movies as well..